Controllable ballast for underwater diving equipment



' Feb. 17, 1970 QF., plNfl-Q' $495,413

c'oNTnoLLABLE BALLASTFCR uNDERwAmER vDIVINGA"mulWENT' med oat'. 11. 1968United States Patent O 3,495,413 CONTROLLABLE BALLAST FOR UNDERWATERDIVING EQUIPMENT Olympio F. Pinto, Praia de Botafogo 114, Apt. 602, Riode Janeiro, Brazil Filed Oct. 11, 1968, Ser. No. 766,790 Int. Cl. B63c11/30, 11/22; B63g 8/22 U.S. Cl. 61-69 ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE Animproved controllable ballast assembly for underwater diving is providedwhich obviates the need for weight belts and the like. The assemblyincludes an additional cylinder, or tank, which is worn by the diver inconjunction with the usual compressed air cylinder, and which iscontrollable so that it may be lled with water to provide sucientballast for the diver to submerge, and so that it may subsequently belled with compressed air from the air cylinders to create suflicientbuoyancy to return the diver to the surface.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION As is well known, most prior art divingsuits and equipment includes weighted members, such as belts or shoes,which provide sufcient mass to cause the diver to submerge easily andquickly. However, when such weighted members are used, some means mustbe provided for returning the diver to the surface. This may beachieved, for example, by means of a winch line extending to thesurface, or by some means whereby the diver may disengage the weightedmembers and leave them on the bottom.

The improved assembly of the present invention has the feature in thatit provides self-controlled buoyancy for the diver, and which permitshim to descend or ascend at will, and at any desired rate. The assemblyof ythe invention is advantageous in that it is relatively inexpensive,and it is easy to operate. Moreover, the assembly is absolutely safe,and it provides the diver with a buoyancy control which cannot beduplicated with the prior art equipment. In addition, the assembly issimple in its concept and requires virtually no maintenance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A controllable ballast assembly for underwaterdiving equipment is provided which is used, for example, in conjunctionwith a pressurized air cylinder normally included in such equipment. Theassembly comprises an additional cylinder or tank which is coupled tothe air cylinder, and a controllable valve for causing compressed air orwater selectively to enter the tank, so as to control the buoyancy ofthe diver and his equipment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURE 1 is a representation of a diverhaving a pack on his back which includes the usual pressurized aircylinders, and which also includes the improved assembly of the presentinvention;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the aforesaid pack, showing the mannerin which the tank, or tanks, of the assembly of the present inventionmay be mounted together with the compressed air cylinders, on the pack;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view of a valve which may be used to control theballast assembly of the invention;

FIGURES 4 and 5 are schematic representations showing the manner inwhich the improved ballast assembly of the invention operates; and

FIGURE 6 is a perspective section of the tank which is included in theballast assembly of the invention, and

4 Claims 3,495,413 Patented Feb. 17, 1970 ICC DETAILED DESCRIPTION OFTHE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT In the representation of FIGURE 1, a diver 10has a usual diving helmet 12 on his head, together with a face mask 14.The diver receives oxygen, for example, from a pair of air cylinders 16and 18 which are supported in a pack, the pack being suspended from theback of the diver, for example, by straps such as the strap 20.

In the practice of the present invention, and insofar as the illustratedembodiment is concerned, a pair of additional tanks 22 and 24 (FIGURE 2)are supported in the aforesaid pack between the air cylinders 16 and 18,the tanks and air cylinders being held together as a rigid assembly bymeans, for example, of a rigid strap 26. The tanks 22 and 24, as shownin FIGURE 2, may also have an elongated cylinder configuration, similarto the cylinders 16 and 18. As is well known the cylinders 16 and 18contain compressed air, which is controllably fed to the face mask 14 inaccordance to well established practice, to provide breathing air forthe diver.

In order to carry out the concepts of the present invention, the tanks22 and 24 are coupled to the outlet of the air cylinders 16 and 18through, for example, an air line 30. A valve 32, as will be described,may be turned to cause either water or compressed air from the aircylinders 16 and 18 selectively to enter the tanks 22 and 24. In thisway, and merely by turning the valve 32, the buoyancy of the diver andhis equipment may be controlled, by controlling the amount of air orwater lin the tanks 22 and 24.

Details of one embodiment of the valve 32 are shown in FIGURE 3. Asshown, the valve may include a central member 50 in the form of anelongated stem, and which is turnable in a sleeve. The stem 50 is sealedin the sleeve by O-ring 54, and it has an aperture 50a extending throughit. The stem 50 is turned to a ilirst angular position in which theaperture 56 is aligned with the air line 30 so as to permit compressedair from the air cylinders 16 and 18 to enter the tanks 22 and 24.Alternately, the stem 50 may be turned so that the aperture 56 isaligned with a water inlet 60 so as to permit water to enter the tank.

As shown in the schematic representations of FIG- URES 4 and 5, thevalve 32 may be turned to a first position (FIGURE 4) in which waterenters through the line 60 and into the tanks 22 and 24. Then, the valve32 may be turned to a second position (FIGURE 5) in which air from theair cylinders 16 and 18 may enter through the air line 30 and into thetanks 22, 24, to displace the water in the tanks through a one-way valve68, for example, at the bottom of the tank.

As shown in FIGURES 4, 5 and 6I for example, the tanks 22 and 24 have aseries of transverse partitions 70 therein. These partitions, as shownin FIGURE 6-, have openings 70a therein, which are misaligned withrespect to one another from one partition to the next. The purpose ofthe partitions 70 and the openings 70a is to prevent the free ilow ofwater from one end of each of the tanks 22, 24 to the other, with theresulting instability of load with respect to the diver. The partitionsprovide a substantially even distribution of water throughout the tanks22, 24 regardless of their inclination. The openings 70a preferablydefine a helical path along the length of the tank, as indicated by thedotted line, for example, in FIGURE 4. As -stated above, the partitions70 inhi-bit the sloshing of water within the tank, and provide a measureof stability to the assembly.

What is claimed is:

1. Underwater ballast assembly for use in conjunction with a compressedair cylinder, said assembly including:

a tank including a series of spaced transverse partitions withmisaligned openings therein; air line means coupling said tank to theaforesaid air cylinder; Water inlet means coupled to said tank forenabling Water to enter said tank; an exhaust valve mounted on saidtank; and controllable valve means coupled to said air line and to saidWater inlet means for selectively causing water to enter said tankthrough said water inlet means and for causing compressed air from saidair cylinder to enter said tank through -said air line means and therebydisplace water out of Said tank through said exhaust valve.

2. The ballast assembly defined in claim 1 in which said valve means ismanually controlla-ble.

3. The ballast assembly defined in claim 1 in which said tank has anelongated cylindrical configuration.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,161,028 12/1964 Odum et al.114-16 X 3,379,023 4/1968 Crose 61-70 I. KARL BELL, Primary ExaminerU.S. Cl. X.R. 114-16

